Merge tag 'docs-5.7' of git://git.lwn.net/linux

Pull documentation updates from Jonathan Corbet:
 "This has been a busy cycle for documentation work.

  Highlights include:

   - Lots of RST conversion work by Mauro, Daniel ALmeida, and others.
     Maybe someday we'll get to the end of this stuff...maybe...

   - Some organizational work to bring some order to the core-api
     manual.

   - Various new docs and additions to the existing documentation.

   - Typo fixes, warning fixes, ..."

* tag 'docs-5.7' of git://git.lwn.net/linux: (123 commits)
  Documentation: x86: exception-tables: document CONFIG_BUILDTIME_TABLE_SORT
  MAINTAINERS: adjust to filesystem doc ReST conversion
  docs: deprecated.rst: Add BUG()-family
  doc: zh_CN: add translation for virtiofs
  doc: zh_CN: index files in filesystems subdirectory
  docs: locking: Drop :c:func: throughout
  docs: locking: Add 'need' to hardirq section
  docs: conf.py: avoid thousands of duplicate label warning on Sphinx
  docs: prevent warnings due to autosectionlabel
  docs: fix reference to core-api/namespaces.rst
  docs: fix pointers to io-mapping.rst and io_ordering.rst files
  Documentation: Better document the softlockup_panic sysctl
  docs: hw-vuln: tsx_async_abort.rst: get rid of an unused ref
  docs: perf: imx-ddr.rst: get rid of a warning
  docs: filesystems: fuse.rst: supress a Sphinx warning
  docs: translations: it: avoid duplicate refs at programming-language.rst
  docs: driver.rst: supress two ReSt warnings
  docs: trace: events.rst: convert some new stuff to ReST format
  Documentation: Add io_ordering.rst to driver-api manual
  Documentation: Add io-mapping.rst to driver-api manual
  ...

1 files changed, 78 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/pnfs.rst b/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/pnfs.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7c470ecdc3a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/pnfs.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+==========================
+Reference counting in pnfs
+==========================
+
+The are several inter-related caches.  We have layouts which can
+reference multiple devices, each of which can reference multiple data servers.
+Each data server can be referenced by multiple devices.  Each device
+can be referenced by multiple layouts. To keep all of this straight,
+we need to reference count.
+
+
+struct pnfs_layout_hdr
+======================
+
+The on-the-wire command LAYOUTGET corresponds to struct
+pnfs_layout_segment, usually referred to by the variable name lseg.
+Each nfs_inode may hold a pointer to a cache of these layout
+segments in nfsi->layout, of type struct pnfs_layout_hdr.
+
+We reference the header for the inode pointing to it, across each
+outstanding RPC call that references it (LAYOUTGET, LAYOUTRETURN,
+LAYOUTCOMMIT), and for each lseg held within.
+
+Each header is also (when non-empty) put on a list associated with
+struct nfs_client (cl_layouts).  Being put on this list does not bump
+the reference count, as the layout is kept around by the lseg that
+keeps it in the list.
+
+deviceid_cache
+==============
+
+lsegs reference device ids, which are resolved per nfs_client and
+layout driver type.  The device ids are held in a RCU cache (struct
+nfs4_deviceid_cache).  The cache itself is referenced across each
+mount.  The entries (struct nfs4_deviceid) themselves are held across
+the lifetime of each lseg referencing them.
+
+RCU is used because the deviceid is basically a write once, read many
+data structure.  The hlist size of 32 buckets needs better
+justification, but seems reasonable given that we can have multiple
+deviceid's per filesystem, and multiple filesystems per nfs_client.
+
+The hash code is copied from the nfsd code base.  A discussion of
+hashing and variations of this algorithm can be found `here.
+<http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.c/browse_thread/thread/9522965e2b8d3809>`_
+
+data server cache
+=================
+
+file driver devices refer to data servers, which are kept in a module
+level cache.  Its reference is held over the lifetime of the deviceid
+pointing to it.
+
+lseg
+====
+
+lseg maintains an extra reference corresponding to the NFS_LSEG_VALID
+bit which holds it in the pnfs_layout_hdr's list.  When the final lseg
+is removed from the pnfs_layout_hdr's list, the NFS_LAYOUT_DESTROYED
+bit is set, preventing any new lsegs from being added.
+
+layout drivers
+==============
+
+PNFS utilizes what is called layout drivers. The STD defines 4 basic
+layout types: "files", "objects", "blocks", and "flexfiles". For each
+of these types there is a layout-driver with a common function-vectors
+table which are called by the nfs-client pnfs-core to implement the
+different layout types.
+
+Files-layout-driver code is in: fs/nfs/filelayout/.. directory
+Blocks-layout-driver code is in: fs/nfs/blocklayout/.. directory
+Flexfiles-layout-driver code is in: fs/nfs/flexfilelayout/.. directory
+
+blocks-layout setup
+===================
+
+TODO: Document the setup needs of the blocks layout driver